Start here: name it in your message
Once FermentAdvisor is connected, say its name in your message and Grok will bring it in. That one habit is the difference between generic fermentation advice and a plan built on your own jar’s real timeline.
- “Plan a ferment with FermentAdvisor.”
- “Ask FermentAdvisor if my kimchi is ready to check.”
- “What jars do I have going in FermentAdvisor?”
- “It’s done — log it in FermentAdvisor.”
After the first mention you can keep going normally; Grok stays with it for the rest of the conversation. If a reply ever looks like generic fermentation advice — no mention of your jar, no real schedule — name FermentAdvisor again and ask for the same thing.
What it is
The FermentAdvisor connector links your FermentAdvisor account to Grok, xAI’s AI assistant in the X app and at grok.com. Once connected, Grok can work with your real jars — your active ferments, your cultures, your history — instead of answering from general fermentation knowledge.
Everything the connector does runs through the same FermentAdvisor service as the app. A jar you start in a conversation appears in the app; a jar you check or finish in the app informs what Grok sees. One account, one set of jars, wherever you work.
In the Grok app, results come back as the same interactive cards you’d see in Claude — your jars, a jar’s status, a ferment plan, a diagnosis — under Grok’s own reply. Wherever a step needs a photo and Grok doesn’t offer a picker in the card, you get a link to a FermentAdvisor form on our site instead; open it, submit, and tell Grok you’re done.
What you can do
Browse what you can ferment. Ask what FermentAdvisor covers, or about a specific ferment — sourdough, kimchi, yogurt, kombucha, hot sauce, miso, and more across a dozen-plus sub-domains — and get the real method, ratios, and safety notes, sourced from tested references, not guessed.
Plan a ferment. A free, unlimited conversation-only preview shows you the recipe and the full schedule — every check-in, feed, and safety window — before anything is created. Say the word and it becomes a real jar with its own clock.
Check in mid-ferment. Tell Grok what you’re seeing, optionally with a photo, and get a real verdict against your jar’s own stage and timeline — not a generic "looks fine." Safety calls (mold, off smells, a batch that’s genuinely gone bad) are never softened.
Log the finished result. Photo, notes, how it turned out — saved to that jar’s history, with a comparison against past runs of the same ferment so you can see what changed.
Manage cultures and reminders. Feed a starter or SCOBY, switch it active/dormant, and mark reminders complete as you go — FermentAdvisor tracks what’s due and won’t let a feed window slip by silently.
Work your jars. List everything you have going, pause or resume a jar, close one out, or delete it — your library stays accurate to what’s really on your counter.
Planning is always free and unlimited. Starting a jar, checking in, and logging a result draw from a shared free-use pool; FermentAdvisor Pro makes all three unlimited.
How to connect
Grok doesn’t have a public directory of connectors the way some other AI apps do, so you add FermentAdvisor by hand with its address. It takes about a minute, in the X app or at grok.com:
1. On desktop, go to grok.com/connectors and choose New Connector → Custom. In the X app, open the Grok tab, then the connectors sheet, and choose Custom Connectors → Custom Connector. A free Grok account is enough. Connectors are tied to your account, so one you add here also appears in the standalone Grok app (menu → Settings → Connectors) and at grok.com.
2. Paste in FermentAdvisor’s connector address: https://api.fermentadvisor.app/mcp. Give it a name if asked — “FermentAdvisor” is fine — and tap Connect.
3. Grok opens FermentAdvisor’s sign-in page. Enter your email — we send a sign-in code to your inbox. No password to create, no card required. If you’ve used FermentAdvisor before with the same email, your jars are already there; if you’re new, a free account is created on the spot.
4. Enter the code, approve the connection, and you’re done.
Then send your first message with FermentAdvisor in it — see Start here above.
To disconnect at any time, remove FermentAdvisor from Grok’s connectors list. Access tokens expire on their own.
If Grok isn’t using FermentAdvisor
Almost always, it just wasn’t asked. Grok decides for itself when to reach for a connector, and a plain question like “why did my ferment mold” is one it will happily answer on its own — with general advice, not your jar.
Name FermentAdvisor in the message. “Plan a ferment with FermentAdvisor” engages it; “plan a kimchi” often won’t. This is the fix roughly every time.
Check it’s still connected. Grok’s connectors list — in the Grok app (Settings → Connectors), in the X app, or at grok.com/connectors. If it’s missing, add it again — your jars and history are tied to your account, not the connection, so nothing is lost.
Photos and results. If a check-in or a finished-result log hands you a link instead of a picker, open it, submit, then tell Grok you’re done and it will fetch the result. The form can’t message your conversation on its own, so it needs that nudge.
Sign-in code didn’t arrive. Check spam. Codes expire and can only be used once; start the connection again for a fresh one.
Still stuck? support@fermentadvisor.app — a description of what you asked and what came back is enough to go on.
How photos work
Photos never travel through the conversation. Where Grok doesn’t offer an in-card picker, FermentAdvisor hands you a private, single-use link that opens a photo form on our site — take a photo or choose one from your library there, and it uploads directly. Photos are held briefly and deleted once analyzed, and a shot taken in the form goes straight to the check without being saved to your phone — use your camera app first if you want to keep it.
Free and Pro
Planning a ferment through the connector — the recipe and schedule preview — is free and unlimited, for anything on the roster. Starting a jar, checking in, and logging a finished result draw from a shared free-use pool; FermentAdvisor Pro ($4.99/month or $39.99/year) makes all three unlimited, the same as in the app. There’s nothing extra to buy for the connector itself.
Privacy
The short version: we receive only what the tools need — the details of each request and the photos you submit through our own forms. We never see your Grok conversation, and Grok only sees what a tool returns. See our privacy policy for the full details; the third-party section there currently documents our Anthropic integration; xAI/Grok works the same way — a tool call in, a tool result out, nothing else shared.
Questions or trouble
Write to support@fermentadvisor.app. If a sign-in code doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder first — codes expire, and you can always request a fresh one by starting the connection again.